On the Coming Snowstorm

About which I have nothing to say

Good Evening:

Tomorrow on #DogShirtTV, Shane Harris of the Atlantic joins to talk about his new story on Donald Trump’s nominee to run the CIA, John Ratcliff. Tomorrow, 8:00 am. Join us. Information for access to the studio is available below the paywall.

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Friday on #DogShirtTV, AI expert Gary Marcus joined Eve Gaumond, Matteo Carrabba and me to discuss AI over-hype, whether generative AI is a bubble, and what the real promise of AI may be:

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We are all supposed to comment on the coming snowstorm, which is due to hit Washington DC this evening with—snow.

I have nothing to say on the subject.

Except that to the extent that snow materializes, we will all deal with it.

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Friday On Lawfare

On New Orleans, Las Vegas, Virginia, and the Threat of Improvised Explosive Devices

Austin Doctor argues that three recent terror threats—the New Orleans vehicle attack, the Las Vegas Cybertruck bombing, and an FBI raid of a homemade explosives stockpile in a residence in Virginia—herald the continuing danger of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) as the weapon of choice for terrorists and violent extremists in the United States:

The headlines emerging from New Orleans, Las Vegas, as well as Virginia over the past few days make clear that the era of the bomb is not over. Rather, IEDs are regularly featured, either as the primary or secondary weapons, in terrorist plots and attacks targeting U.S. communities and infrastructure. Their accessibility and lethal capacity make them a go-to choice for a diverse range of ideological extremists. As the terrorism landscape changes, the U.S. counterterrorism workforce faces new challenges in assessing, preventing, and responding to the terrorist IED threat. Looking ahead, efficient and effective solutions will require close attention to the evolving human and technical dimensions underlying the terrorist IED threat.

The Shadow War

Behnam Ben Taleblu reviews “Target Tehran: How Israel Is Using Sabotage, Cyberwarfare, Assassination—and Secret Diplomacy—to Stop a Nuclear Iran and Create a New Middle East,” by Yonah Jeremy Bob and Ilan Evyatar. Taleblu finds the book to be a “compelling read” that comprehensively details Israel’s covert actions to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons over the last decade:

“Target Tehran” is replete with quotes from Mossad officials and other high-level Israeli decision-makers documenting the deliberations behind the moves constituting Israel’s covert war against the Islamic Republic. Often reading like a spy novel, Bob and Evyatar’s reporting provides more detailed accounts of Israeli operational planning than have prior journalists’ stories. They address several Israeli clandestine operations, including the use of cyber tools and even assassination of key scientific and administrative contributors to the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. Given the more recent scope of operations covered, readers from academic, policy, media, and lay backgrounds will all find something to cherish in the book’s pages.

Podcasts

On Lawfare Daily, Natalie K. Orpett sits down with Brian Hoxie to talk about the Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act, legislation passed in 2021 in response to reports that the Chinese government was committing major human rights abuses against its Uyghur population, including disappearances and forced labor. Orpett and Hoxie discuss the act’s goals, its implementation, and what the U.S. government is doing to combat forced labor:

On the final episode of Chatter, Shane Harris and David Priess reflect on the diverse range of topics at the frontiers of national security that the podcast explored—from spy fiction to lessons of history, from climate change to the visual and musical arts, from sports and culture to the practice of intelligence:

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Today’s #BeastOfTheDay is the dormouse. This dormouse is sleeping and squeaking. It has no obligations, no responsibilities, no deadlines. It is rolled up in a ball. It is tiny. It has been picked up and cradled gently. What joy, to be a dormouse! Source: TikTok @stillhavetime2deletevid